Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad